Hull touted the dramatic turn around on the campus, vowing he would adopt the same model to breathe life into some of the city's crumbling neighborhoods if he defeats Democrat Gary McCarthy and becomes Schenectady's next mayor.

"I believe that the neighborhood that you see here is one that you can see off Van Vranken, off Crane Street, off Broadway, and off State Street, it's simply a question of the will," said Hull, founder of the Alliance Party. He nearly beat McCarthy four years ago. "The funding vehicles are there, the question is do we have the will," he said.

He said he would lobby hard for the various funding agencies, including Metroplex and the Schenectady land bank and others, to make "an investment which makes all the sense in the world."

Hull also mentioned the city municipal housing authority as a potential partner as he outlined what he described as his "bold" vision.

"This is the model, which I think is easily replicatable and it's one I would seek to put in place with the funding agencies on Jan. 1," added Hull. "The relevance is that this area, once in despair, is now an area of real hope and the model we have here is clearly translatable throughout the city, and that's what I would seek to do on January 1."

Asked about Hull's neighborhood revitalization plan, McCarthy dismissed it as "lunacy" and will never work.

"The model is that you take all the properties off the tax roll, you find eight or 10 people to live in the properties, and you charge them $65,000 a year, and how are you going to replicate that?" "You can't."